Ronald Koeman slams “unfair” Matthijs de Ligt comments as Joshua Zirkzee rescues Manchester United teammate

Ronald Koeman has addressed a mistake made by Matthijs de Ligt as Joshua Zirkzee came to the rescue for his Manchester United teammate.

Earlier this summer, Joshua Zirkzee became the first signing under Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS team since taking control of Manchester United‘s sporting operations. The Dutch forward joined from Bologna in a £36 million deal.

Zirkzee was one of five players to bolster Erik ten Hag‘s squad, alongside Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, and Manuel Ugarte, all arriving at Old Trafford before the transfer window closed in August.

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His debut couldn’t have been scripted better, netting a last-minute winner in a 1-0 victory over Fulham on the Premier League’s opening day.

A few weeks later, Zirkzee earned his first start for the Netherlands, and he repaid Ronald Koeman’s trust with a stellar performance. He assisted Tijjani Reijnders in giving the Dutch a 2-1 lead and later found the back of the net himself, helping secure a 5-2 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday evening.

Despite Zirkzee’s successes, the same cannot be said for De Ligt, who has been criticised for ball-watching while Edin Dzeko scored Bosnia’s second goal.

The Netherlands international also made an error for the side’s first, playing Ermedin Demirovic onside through questionable positioning in the 26th minute.

On Bosnia and Herzegovina’s first goal, Netherlands manager Koeman told reporters: “Xavi Simons should have done better. He was marking their left midfielder and suddenly walked away from him.

“Of course, the centre-backs are positioning themselves wrong too.”

While Koeman stated that it was unfair to focus solely on De Ligt’s mistakes, he explained that he hoped it would serve as a wake-up call for the 25-year-old.

“He himself realises that he was in the wrong position,” Koeman added when asked if he was concerned about De Ligt’s display.

“This should not happen, but mistakes are part of football. I think it is unfair to make a big deal out of it.”

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